Video game adaptations of movies are always a tough sell. This is in no small part thanks to the rushed development and uninspiring design methodologies to coincide with the release of the movie. More often than not, this results in a lackluster or completely broken video game, simply nothing more than a cashgrab, trying to capitalize on all the 10-year-olds bewitched by the movie. This is proven time and again with games such as the infamous E.T, Tomorrow Never Dies, and countless licensed superhero games that will never stop being churned out. There are exceptions, however. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, The Chronicles of Riddick games, Blade Runner and Warriors count amongst video game adaptations of movies that are actually good. On today’s episode of Saturday Underground, I’m going to familiarise you guys with one such adaptation that you may or may not (probably a lot more of this) has heard about and why you should consider checking it out.
John Woo, the king of Hong Kong action movies had a great run in the 80s and 90s. His collaboration with veteran actor Chow Yun-Fat brought the world stylized action masterpieces such as A Better Tomorrow, The Killer and Hard Boiled. If you’re a movie buff and haven’t seen these already, do yourself a favor- Stop reading right there and go watch these three. He also directed several Hollywood films including Hard Target, Broken Arrow, Face/Off and Mission Impossible 2 but it’s his Hong Kong films that are more memorable.
Right, so where were we? Yeah, John Woo and Chow Yun Fat. Among their many films together, Hard Boiled is my favorite and for good reason. A no-nonsense all-out action film with some of the best gunfights in all of cinema and a hard-boiled cop you can’t hesitate to root for. Hard Boiled inspired action cinema for decades to come and especially, paved the way for some of my favorite childhood Malayalam action films I bunked my classes to see.
The year was 2008. Gaming wasn’t a pastime for us Indian Kids back then like it was now. There was no stable internet, let alone Steam and games were hard to come by. You had to satisfy yourself with whatever game got circulated among friends in school and if you were lucky enough, the local computer store would receive a fresh supply of western games once every blue moon. Stranglehold was one such hidden gem I discovered during my monthly visit to this little computer store nearby. I had no idea what the game was but the other games they had for sale were the ones I had already played and completed. I still remember using my Airtel 2G internet connection to Google the game using my phone while I was in the store, holding the discs in my hand. Heh, remember when you had to pay 10Ps/10KB just to browse the internet? Ah, these are luxurious times indeed.
Anyhow, Google told me that Stranglehold was the video game sequel to John Woo’s 1992 film Hard Boiled and was released the previous year by Midway Games (the Mortal Kombat guys I assume). It was such a pleasant surprise as it was then that I came to know that one of my favorite action film of all time had a sequel and it was in the form of a video game. Without hesitation, I paid 200 Rs for the game, went home, booted up my then-new Geforce 9400 GT and went in blind. And you know what, that game was good. No money lost!
Right. Since my usual ramblings about my childhood days are over (by this time, you guys probably know more about me than my family), let’s get into what makes Stranglehold so special and worth experiencing. If I have to sum up Stranglehold in a sentence, it’d be something along the lines of, “Max Payne if it was made by John Woo and all the cynical monologues are replaced by doves, lots of goddamn doves” (look up John Woo and doves if you don’t get this reference).
The game has Chow Yun-Fat reprising his role as the hard-edged Inspector “Tequila” Yuen of the Hong Kong Police Department taking the fight to the triads, of all people. The story is not important and is your typical one-man-army policeman acting as the judge, jury, and executioner. Ok, there’s a lot more to the story but I’m guessing this is the first time you guys are hearing about the game so it’d be hard to grasp all the references. What shines in Stranglehold, is the gameplay, especially the gunplay.
As far as the gameplay is concerned, fans of Max Payne games will fit right in. It’s a linear third-person shooter featuring the high-octane action from a typical John Woo film. You’re a single man shooting his way through levels, facing off against an overwhelming number of enemies who are certainly better at hitting targets than Storm Troopers. To aid you in your one-man quest is everyone’s favorite Bullet Time, conveniently called Tequila Time here because originality can sod off. When under the effect of Bu…Tequila Time, the world around you slows to a crawl and you are able to inflict hell upon your enemies using bullets as well as the environment.
However, Tequila Time is more than just a rip off of Warner Bros’ Bullet Time. This mechanics is used to the fullest in Stranglehold along with environmental interaction. When using Tequila Time, Tequila can ride on carts, swing from chandeliers, slide down railings and slide across objects while firing the big iron on his hip. It doesn’t end there. There are extensions of Tequila Time called Tequila Bombs (cos, why not?). These are special abilities that require energy to perform. Do you guys remember the insane moves from Total Overdose? This is a somewhat similar mechanic enabling you to perform kills more stylish than a model on Paris fashion week.
First of all, there is the Precision Shot which does exactly what it says, allowing you to land precise hits on various parts of the enemy’s body. Combine this with location-based damage and oh boy, it’s like Christmas came a bit early. Shooting enemies in the balls, watch them squirm in pain and bleed out remains one of my fondest memories with Stranglehold. Another one is Barrage, which is basically showering your enemies with a shitload of bullets in slow motion. Use a shotgun while doing this and thank me later. Then there is the Spin Attack which makes Tequila spin around like a ballerina and shoots anyone 360 degrees around him automatically. Very effective, not to mention satisfying. Oh, and did I mention there will also be plenty of doves flying around you while you do this? Because- John Woo!
Accompanying all these is an arcade-like scoring system. The more stylish the kill, the more stars you earn. It’s not like you need any incentive to shoot people in the balls. But hey, I’m not complaining. There’s also partial environment destruction which is cool as hell.
Stranglehold doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel of third person shooters. It’s sleek, stylistic and oozing that Tequila charm. Sadly the single player campaign is very short, multiplayer sucks, uses G4WL (LOL) and as far as I know, it’s not available in any digital distribution platforms. You might be able to find a used copy or who knows, some shady seller in Amazon is still selling the game. There was a sequel in development as well as a prequel film but since Midway shut its doors, I’m not holding my breath. If you do manage to get a hold of the game, play it for the John Woo flair and the doves, especially the doves.
Credit goes to Youtubers Razor47 and BeerWulf28 for the gameplay clips. YouTube has buttload videos ranging back to the 60s but not enough of a game released in 2007?